Service Center and Legacy Products End of Life

Note: This article has been updated on August 14, 2025.

Native Instruments has discontinued the Service Center activation tool and a range of legacy products. While already activated products can still be used, reactivation and reinstall options are no longer supported on older systems.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Legacy products that can still be activated in Native Access
• discontinued products that cannot be activated with Native Access
• Frequently Asked Questions:
  • Why did Native Instruments decide to terminate the discontinued activation tool Service Center?
  • Why did Native Instruments decide to remove the possibility to authorize legacy products?
  • Why am I affected by this announcement if my Kontakt library is activating in Native Access?
  • Is Native Instruments currently looking into any other solutions for affected customers?

As of May 31, 2020, a range of legacy products from Native Instruments and third-party manufacturers, as well as the activation tool Service Center, will be discontinued. This means that already installed and activated products can still be used without limitation, but it is no longer possible to reinstall or reactivate any of these products on a computer running OS X 10.11 (or lower) / Windows 8 (or lower).

The affected products include discontinued software instruments like B4-II, Pro-53, etc., as well as sample libraries for Kontakt. You can find the full list in the tables below.

However, we have found a workaround that allows the Kontakt libraries to be used regularly after May 31st on computers running OS X 10.12 (and above) or Windows 10 / 11. These Kontakt libraries now can be registered, activated, and added with Native Access and show up correctly in Kontakt's library browser. You can find the libraries that still can be used on OS X 10.12 (and above) and Windows 10 / 11 in the product list below.

Please note that you have to use Kontakt 5.8.1 or above for this workaround. Users of OS X 10.12 (or above) can find their Kontakt installers in this article. If you are using Windows 10 / 11 or macOS 12 (or higher), please use the current version of Native Access to automatically install the appropriate Kontakt version.

In order to activate these Kontakt libraries on OS X 10.12 (or above) or Windows 10 / 11, please follow these steps:

1. Install Native Access (if you have not already):

• Native Access (Windows 10 / 11 & macOS 12 and higher)
• Native Access (macOS 10.12 - 10.15)

2. Start Native Access and log in with the email address and password you have used to register your 3rd party Kontakt library. You can find the library in the tab Not installed. If it is not showing up, please re-start Native Access.

3. In Native Access 1, click ADD LIBRARY and browse to the location of your 3rd party Kontakt library. You can find detailed instructions for Native Access 2 in the first chapter of this article.

4. Open Kontakt standalone from:

• Mac: Macintosh HD > Applications > Native Instruments
• Windows: C:\Program Files\Native Instruments

Your library has now been added to Kontakt's library browser and is ready to use:

Most of the other NI products on the list below have a newer version with the same or enhanced functionality. Please check out our product pages.

After May 31, 2020, the use of Native Access is required to activate and manage your NI products.  If you are using an older operating system, you can find legacy versions of Native Access in this article.

The discontinuation will not affect any update, upgrade or crossgrade paths. All of your updates, upgrades and crossgrades based on these products will stay intact.

Legacy products that can still be activated in Native Access

PRODUCT	MANUFACTURER	Native Access Activation	RELEASE DATE
Akoustik Piano Library	Native Instruments	(latest version)	2007
Elektrik Piano 1.5 Library	Native Instruments	(latest version)	2004
Reaktor 5	Native Instruments	(10.12-10.14 / Win 10/11)	2005
Boesendorfer290	East West
Colossus	East West
EWQLSO Gold Ed	East West
EWQLSO Gold Ed Pro XP	East West
EWQLSO Silver Ed	East West
EWQLSOSilver Ed Pro XP	East West
Hardcore Bass	East West
Hardcore Bass XP	East West
Percussive Adventures	East West
PSP Adrenaline	East West
PSP Drumkit From Hell 2	East West
PSP Percussive Adventures 2 LE	East West
PSP Stormbreaks	East West
PSP Vapor	East West
Ra	East West
SO Brass	East West
SO Brass Pro XP	East West
SO Percussion	East West
SO Percussion Pro XP	East West
SO Strings	East West
SO Strings Pro XP	East West
SO Woodwinds	East West
SO Woodwinds Pro XP	East West
Stormdrum	East West
Stormdrum Intakt	East West
Symphonic Choirs	East West
Artist Drums	Best Service
Artist Grooves	Best Service
Chris Hein Horns	Best Service
Classical Collection	Best Service
Cult Sampler	Best Service
Ethno World 3 Complete	Best Service
Galaxy Steinway	Best Service
Galaxy Steinway 5.1	Best Service
Latin World	Best Service
Orient World	Best Service
String Essentials	Best Service
Altered States	Zero-G
Analogue Sequencer Loops	Zero-G
Beats Working in Cuba	Zero-G
Morphology	Zero-G
Nostalgia	Zero-G
Outer Limits	Zero-G
PSP Afrolatin Slam	Zero G
PSP Koncept & Function	Zero-G
PSP Nu Jointz	Zero-G
PSP Vol 7 The Operating Table	Zero-G
PSP Wired - The Elements of Trance	Zero-G
Sounds of the 70s	Zero-G
Sounds of Polynesia	Zero-G
Vocal Forge	Zero-G
Celtic Instruments	Big Fish Audio
First Call Horns / KP2	Big Fish Audio
London Solo Strings	Big Fish Audio
Raging Guitars	Big Fish Audio
Garritan Jazz	Garritan
Garritan Personal Orchestra	Garritan
Virtual Grand Piano	Art Vista
CM Session	Computer Music
Future Loops	Future Music
Virtual Drumline 2	Tap Space

discontinued products that cannot be activated with Native Access

PRODUCT	MANUFACTURER	Native Access Activation	RELEASE DATE
Absynth	Native Instruments		2003
Absynth 2	Native Instruments		2003
Absynth 3	Native Instruments		2005
Absynth 4	Native Instruments		2007
Absynth Sounds Volume 1	Native Instruments		2003
AC-Box Combo	Native Instruments		2005
B4	Native Instruments		2000
B4 II	Native Instruments		2005
Bandstand	Native Instruments		2005
Battery	Native Instruments		2001
Battery 2	Native Instruments		2004
Battery Studio Drums	Native Instruments		2004
Electronic Instruments 2 XT	Native Instruments		2005
FM7	Native Instruments		2002
Guitar Combos	Native Instruments		2005
Guitar Rig	Native Instruments		2004
Guitar Rig 2	Native Instruments		2005
Intakt	Native Instruments		2003
Kompakt	Native Instruments		2002
Kompakt Sony ACID Pro	Native Instruments		2006
Komplete 2	Native Instruments		2004
Kontakt 1.0	Native Instruments		2002
Kontakt 2	Native Instruments		2005
Kore	Native Instruments		2006
Kore 2	Native Instruments		2008
NI Essentials	Native Instruments		2005
NI Spectral Delay	Native Instruments		2001
Plex Combo	Native Instruments		2005
Pro-52	Native Instruments		2001
Pro-53	Native Instruments		2003
Reaktor 2.3	Native Instruments		2000
Reaktor 3	Native Instruments		2002
Reaktor 4	Native Instruments		2003
Reaktor Electronic Instruments	Native Instruments		2003
Reaktor Electronic Instruments 2	Native Instruments		2004
Reaktor Session	Native Instruments		2003
Studio Collection	Native Instruments		2001
Traktor DJ (from 2000)	Native Instruments		2000
Traktor DJ Studio 1	Native Instruments		2000
Traktor DJ Studio 2	Native Instruments		2002
Traktor DJ Studio 3 / LE	Native Instruments		2005
Traktor FS 1.5	Native Instruments		2003
Traktor FS 2	Native Instruments		2005
Traktor Hercules	Native Instruments		2005
Twang Combo	Native Instruments		2005
Vokator	Native Instruments		2003

Frequently Asked Questions:

Why did Native Instruments decide to terminate the discontinued activation tool Service Center?

Service Center was already replaced by Native Access in 2016. There was a clear urgency for us to discontinue it due to growing security concerns with the way data is being transmitted. The older technology we are currently relying on is impeding our complete move to an enterprise-grade user authorization service that offers state-of-the-art security features.

Why did Native Instruments decide to remove the possibility to authorize legacy products?

We have kept many of our older products operational and compatible with evolving operating systems and changes in our own ecosystem. At this point the effort required to uphold activation mechanisms for products that have been conceived and implemented more than ten years ago has already obstructed our path towards more modern ways of delivery and use. Major changes in operating systems like MacOS 10.15 (Catalina) have multiplied the issues for our activation processes. It is not possible to update our listed products to work on modern operating systems within reasonable effort.

In regards to 3rd party instruments we have found a workaround (see above). Regarding our own content products, we are currently looking into possible solutions.

Why am I affected by this announcement if my Kontakt library is activating in Native Access?

For the same reason we have to discontinue Service Center, we have to retire our older activation mechanisms. Unfortunately, this affects the listed legacy products. In addition, recent operating system updates have introduced more difficulties which we are no longer able to address.

Is Native Instruments currently looking into any other solutions for affected customers?

Yes, in specific cases we might be able to provide at-your-own risk support for our end-of-life products. We can’t promise anything at this point and technical feasibility needs to be evaluated. We will share more information about this as soon as possible.